Towpath Topics RSS
Issue-by-Issue Contents
(listed reverse chronologically)

February 2024 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message from J. Jeremiah Breen
Annual Appeal “Thank You” by Russ Silva
“The Quest for an Occupancy Permit: A Progress Report at 2 Old Elm Street” by Betty M. Bigwood
“A Brisk Fall Walk” by Neil P. Devins
Fall Meeting Minutes by J. Jeremiah Breen
“New Memorial Bench in Memory of James H. Winkler on Deck of New MCA Museum” by Anne Winkler
“Meets and Passes” by Bill Gerber
“The Canal Corporation’s First Female Shareholder: Elizabeth Guild” by Brian JM Quinn
“Miss Fanny Searle to Mrs. Margaret Curzon” reprinted from the Oct 1971 Towpath Topics with Editors’ notes by Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

October 2023 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message from J. Jeremiah Breen
MCA Letter in Opposition to the Talbot Mill Dam Removal - by Betty Bigwood
Letter in Opposition to the Talbot Mill Dam Removal - by Bob LeBlanc
Letter in Opposition to the Talbot Mill Dam Removal - by Bill Kuttner
Letter Concerning the Removal of the Talbot Mill Dam - by Bob Thorson
Annual Meeting Minutes 2023
MCA Fall Bicycle Ride Report - by Bill Kuttner
Creating the Documentary: Journey along the Middlesex Canal - by Roger Hagopian
The Allen Tavern - by Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

April 2023 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message by J. Jeremiah Breen
MCA Winter Meeting Report by Debra Fox
MCA Spring Walk Report by Robert Winters
“When are We Going to Move” by Betty Bigwood
“Towpath to Bike Trail” by Douglas Chandler
“Farmer, Middlesex Canal, 1810” a poem by Joanne Diaz
Miscellany

February 2023 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message: “Water Highway” by J. Jeremiah Breen
A Message from the MCA Treasurer Russ Silva
“MCA Fall Bicycle Ride North 2022” by Bill Kuttner
“Middlesex Canal Association Walk: October 2022” by Robert Winters
“A Weather Tight Building” by Betty M. Bigwood
“Water, Water Everywhere, but not a Drop to Drink” by Dick Hawes
“Squire William Blanchard House” Wilmington, MA by Cienna Lyon
Miscellany

October 2022 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message: “Dam Removal 2” - by J. Jeremiah Breen
“Construction at 2 Old Elm, our New Museum” - by Betty M. Bigwood
“Middlesex Tavern” - by Debra Fox
Miscellany

May 2022 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message: “Enchanted Land, NPS Lowell” by J. Jeremiah Breen
2022 Winter Meeting of the MCA Report
Spring Walk Report - by Robert Winters
Gift of a Bench - by Betty Bigwood
Sunday, April 24 Canal Bike Ride Report - by Bill Kuttner
A Comparison of the Blackstone and Middlesex Canals … by B. H. Dickson (reprinted from Towpath Topics #6-1)
    with a brief biography of the author by Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

February 2022 (PDF version)
Annual Appeal: A Note of Thanks from Russ Silva, MCA Treasurer
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message: “First Fruits” - by J. Jeremiah Breen
Fall Meeting Talk on Billerica & Bedford RR - by Richard Hawes
Fall Walk Report - by Robert Winters
Is there Light at the end of the Tunnel? - by Betty M. Bigwood
MCA Bicycle Ride North on 10/02/2022 Report - by Bill Kuttner
The Wheel - by Bill Gerber (Fascinating Article)
Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitors Center Anniversary Remembrances 1996-2021 - by Shayne Reardon
Reminiscences of Middlesex Village - by Susan Richardson Pevey reprinted from the premier issue of Towpath Topics with an editors’ note by Alec Ingraham
Baldwin Apple in The New York Times - by Howard Winkler
Miscellany

October 2021 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message: “Canal Builders of Lowell” - by J. Jeremiah Breen
Annual Meeting Minutes, May 16, 2021 with List of Directors
19th Annual Bike Tour North
“Ribbon Cutting Interpretative Panel ‘The Summit Pond and Floating Towpath’” - by Marlies Henderson
“Building Committee Progress Report” - by Betty Bigwood
Boats and Other Floating Objects that Plied the Waters of the Merrimack River and the Middlesex Canal - by Bill Gerber
Interviews extracted from “Massachusetts’ ‘Panama’ Undertaking” Boston Sunday Globe, June 4, 1907 - contributed by Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

May 2021 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
President’s Message   by J. Jeremiah Breen
Progress on 2 Old Elm Street   by Betty Bigwood
Charles Anderson Retires   by Debra Fox
MCA Spring Walk: A Report   by Jim Winkler
Sheldon Brought Oxen as a Revenge on Elegant Hotel   by Larz Neilson
Loammi Baldwin in the New York Times   by Howard Winkler
Nominees for MCA Officers & Directors, 2021-2022
Miscellany (including a Picture from the Past)

February 2021 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to the MCA Museum and Visitors’ Center
A Note of Appreciation from Russ Silva, MCA Treasurer
President’s Message   by J. Jeremiah Breen
All I want for Christmas is --- a roof     by Betty M. Bigwood
Kudos to Marlies     by Betty M. Bigwood
Time Line     by Betty M. Bigwood
The Passing of an Old Friend     by Bill Gerber
Part II The Smallpox Cemetery     by Alec Ingraham
2 Old Elm Street in 2014
Miscellany

October 2020 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events
President’s Message   by J. Jeremiah Breen
Harley Holden Obituary   by Tom Dahill
Jean Potter Obituary   by Howard Winkler and other MCA Members
A letter to the Billerica ConCom concerning the expansion of the new Museum’s Observation Deck
Let’s Not Forget the Workers with pictures   by Betty Bigwood
Ed Dolliver, Historic Restoration   by Betty Bigwood
Rick Shaw, Shaw Welding   by Betty Bigwood
Lowell Street Canal Walk - North Billerica
Brooks Trull Batcheller   by Alec Ingraham
MCA Officers and Directors 2020-2021
Miscellany

April 2020 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message by J. Jeremiah Breen
Winter Meeting Report by Debra Fox
Excerpt from Loammi Baldwin’s Diary on April 17, 1775 published in History of Middlesex County, Vol. 1, p447, Hurd, submitted by Howard Winkler
“High Street Skinny Dippers” by Marlies Henderson
“The Bridge at the Falls” by Alec Ingraham
“The Smallpox Cemetery” by Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

February 2020 (PDF version)
Building Permit for Museum at Two Old Elm Street
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message by J. Jeremiah Breen
A Note of Appreciation from Russ Silva
“How is Two Old Elm Coming Along?” by Betty M. Bigwood
“Our Contractor, Bill Cogley: A Man for All Seasons” by Betty M. Bigwood
Fall Meeting Summary by Debra Fox
“The Role of Women on the M’sex and M’mac Canals” by Bill Gerber
“The Visit” by Debra Fox
Part #6 and final in the Series A Social History of the Middlesex Canal an e-book by Rev. Alan Seaburg
Eagle Scout Project Wilmington, MA by Betty M. Bigwood
Miscellany

September 2019 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message by J. Jeremiah Breen
Annual Meeting, Officers & Directors
A Book Review by Marlies Henderson of This Enchanted Land written Dr. Wayne Peters
From the Wilmington Town Crier an article on the Woburn Volcano by Capt. Larz Neilson
Tay: A Profile of Six Generations by John Ciriello
Part #5 in the Series A Social History of the Middlesex Canal a e-book by Rev. Alan Seaburg
A Poem by Tristan Macdonald
Miscellany

May 2019 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events
President’s Message - by J. Breen
‘The son of the Middlesex Canal, “The Other Canal” i.e. The Erie Canal’ - by Howard Winkler
“The Boston and Lowell Railroad in 1835” - by Larz F. Neilson
“Presentation about Tide Mills from Revere to Quincy, 2019” by Earl Taylor
Miscellany
MCA Officers & Directors: 2018-2019

February 2019 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events
President’s Message - by J. Breen
Fall Meeting Report - by Debra Fox
A Tribute to Dave Barber - by Bill Gerber
A Middlesex Canal Legacy - by Alec Ingraham
No Man Can Tether Time nor Tide - by Betty Bigwood
Book Review of Mary Stetson Clarke’s The Limner’s Daughter - by Nancy Lloyd
“Interlude Three: The Canal in 1820” and “Dictionary of Middlesex Canal Biography; A Sampler”
    - Part #3 of a Series from Rev. Alan Seaburg’s e-book A Social History of the Middlesex Canal
Miscellany

September 2018 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message - by J. Jeremiah Breen
“Building in Massachusetts is a long, protracted, tedious Process” - by Betty M. Bigwood
“The Reverend Dr. Alan Leslie Seaburg (1932-2018)” - by Thomas H. Dahill and Betty M. Bigwood
The Honorable James Miceli – Who will replace him?” - by Betty M. Bigwood
Annual Meeting “A Salute to Andrew Bowen” - by Deb Fox
“41 Years and Counting” - by Alec Ingraham
History: Wilmington Led Nation in Hop Production - by Larz Neilson
“Interlude Three: The Canal in 1820” and “Dictionary of Middlesex Canal Biography; A Sampler” Part #3 of a Series from Rev. Alan Seaburg’s e-book A Social History of the Middlesex Canal
Miscellany

April 2018 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message: “Progress on New Museum” – by J. Jeremiah Breen
Winter Meeting Recap – by Deb Fox
The Baldwin Seven-Dollar Bill – by Howard Winkler
Thoreau in Billerica – by Marlies Henderson
A Social History of the Middlesex Canal by Alan Seaburg — Part Two of the Series – Interlude I: “The Canal 1803 and 1804”
A Social History of the Middlesex Canal by Alan Seaburg — Part Three of the Series – Interlude II: “The Canal 1814”
Miscellany

February 2018 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
Vice President’s Message “Roadwork Threatens Memorial to Revolutionary War Alum” - by William M. Goldsmith, Contributed by Howard Winkler
“Report of the Secretary of the Treasury; on the Subject of Roads and Canals [1808]” - by Albert Gallatin, Contributed by Howard Winkler
“History of Modern Surroundings” - summarized by Betty Bigwood
A Social History of the Middlesex Canal by Alan Seaburg - Part one of a multi-part series: Preface, Table of Contents, and Introduction
“The Billerica Falls Dam” - by J. Jeremiah Breen
Miscellany

October 2017 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions to Museum
President’s Message - Tribute to Thomas Raphael - J Jeremiah Breen
Remembrances of Tom Raphael - Neil Devins
Treasurer Emeritus - Betty Bigwood
Two Old Elm Street - Betty Bigwood
MCA Annual Meeting Report - Deb Fox
A Social History of the Middlesex Canal by Alan Seaburg: a Book Review - Howard Winkler
Delilah Identified - a book review of Billingsley, Brampton and Beyond - In Search of the Weston Connection by Pamela Gardner - Howard Winkler
Provenance of the Spade - Bill Gerber
News from the MCC Billerica Section
Miscellany

April 2017 (PDF version)
Editors’ Note
MCA Sponsored Events and Directions
Notice of Proposed Changes to MCA By-laws
Vice President’s Message - by Traci Jansen
An Afternoon at the Museum - by Deb Fox
The Baldwin Statue - by Howard Winkler
Maple Meadow Brook Bone Dry in September 2016 - by Howard Winkler
Winchester Culvert Part II - by J. Jeremiah Breen
Miscellany

January 2017 (PDF version)
Editors’ Note
Events and Directions to MCA Museum and Visitor Center
Vice President’s Message - by Traci Jansen
The Tide Mill Institute highlights The Boston Mill Pond - by Betty M. Bigwood & Thomas H. Dahill
The Merrimack Flight, and Baldwin’s “Hydraulic Machine” - by Bill Gerber
Winchester Culvert Location - by J. Jeremiah Breen
Thomas Jefferson, Canal, and Waterways - by Dan Van Haften, Submitted by Thomas Raphael
At the 2016 Presidential Election, Billerica Adopts the Community Preservation Act - by Marlies Henderson
Serendipity Sets the Pace for other Corporations - by Marlies Henderson
Billerica Historical Commission Community Grant Report: High Street Middlesex Canal Wayside Marker Re-dedication - by Alec Ingraham
A Probable Scene on the Middlesex Canal and Merrimack River - by Howard Winkler
Miscellany

September 2016 (PDF version)
Editors’ Note
Events and Directions to MCA Museum and Visitor Center
President’s Message
Another Side of Loammi
Luther A. Roby, Boatman by Bill Gerber based on materials supplied by Sherm Sewell
The Canal that Bisected Boston by Betty Bigwood
The Middlesex Canal Commission Annual Meeting Progress Report
Part III of The North Billerica Mill Village in 1850 by Alec Ingraham
“A Sketch of the Life and Works of Loammi Baldwin, Jr.” Part III of Vose’s Speech Compiled by Debra Fox from documents supplied by Susan Williams
Catherine Baldwin by Debra Fox
Miscellany

April 2016 (PDF version)
Editors’ Note
Spring Walk
Spring Meeting
Remembrance Gathering for Nolan Jones
President’s Message
Unraveling the Mystery of the Barton Watercolors – Alec Ingraham
A Single Letter Can Make a Difference – Betty Bigwood and Len Harmon
N. Billerica Mill Village: Part III – Alec Ingraham
Vose Lecture: Part II – compiled by Deb Fox
MCA & MCC Response to the Concord River Fish Restoration Study – Bill Gerber
Miscellany

January 2016 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
Winter Meeting: February 14, 2016 - Dahill Lecture “Summit Pond”
President’s Message – J.J. Breen
Section #8 at Maple Meadow – J.J. Breen
Bill's 8 Years as Editor of TT Comes to an End – Betty Bigwood
Kudos to Traci – Betty Bigwood
More About Nolan – Bill Gerber
Fall Meeting Notes – Betty Bigwood and Tom Dahill
Asa Sheldon, a Wilmington Guy – Betty Bigwood
Count Rumford and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences – Betty Bigwood and Leonard Harmon
Outreach: J’s Extraordinary Effort This Fall – Betty Bigwood
Vose Lecture: Part I – compiled by Deb Fox
N. Billerica Mill Village: Part I – Alec Ingraham
Miscellany

September 2015 (PDF version)
Editors’ Letter
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Baldwin Dry Dock at USS Constitution Museum (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of MCA Events Locks in Lowell (J. J. Breen)
MCC Billerica Sign Project (Alec Ingraham)
Dahill Square (Betty Bigwood)
A Volunteer Remembered (Betty Bigwood)
Tribute to Nolan Jones (Bill Gerber)
Baldwin/Sullivan Members of AMACAD (Howard Winkler)
Miscellany

March 2015 (PDF version)
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Boston - Here We Come (Betty Bigwood)
Title Track of a Broken Record (Marlies Henderson)
Passing the Baton! (Bill Gerber)
Miscellany

January 2015 (PDF version)
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Tom Dahill and Family Honored
Recreation (Marlies Henderson)
Extract from... History of Chelmsford (Waters)
Extract from... Travels in New England (Dwight)
Miscellany

September 2014 (PDF version) (Flash version)
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Arthur L. Eno, Jr. RIP (Bill Gerber)
Arthur L. Eno, Jr. Obituary (Lowell Sun)
MCA Photo Archive (Bob LeBlanc)
Extracts from “History of Chelmsford” by Rev. Wilkes Allen
Sullivan Square (Howard Winkler)
Canal-side Landings (Bill Gerber)
The Quincy Canal (H. Hobart Holly, Quincy Hist. Society)
Miscellany

April 2014 (PDF version) (Flash version)
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Transfer of Legacies (M. Henderson)
Black Brook Aqueduct (Gerber)
Measuring Speed on the Canal (Gerber)
1816 Tow Boat (Gerber)
Quirky Museums (Boston Globe)
Canal Toll House, Chelmsford (Gerber)
Miscellany
Photo of Shawsheen Aqueduct in October 2013 (Kathy Norton)

January 2014 (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President’s Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
About Nolan (J. Jones)
Future Publication – A Question (Gerber)
Searching our Online Archives
Finally ... Happen! (Bigwood)
Pawtucket Falls, 1822 (Breen)
Shipping Documents (Gerber)
The Union Canal (Gerber)
Archeology (Gerber)
Miscellany
MCA Officers and Directors 2013-2014

September 2013 (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
The 1825 Iron Bolt (Breen)
New at the Museum (Gerber)
“Bewitching Ditch” (Seaburg)
Extract from: The Symmes Memorial (for Vinton)
History of Middlesex Canal in Local Woods (Hall)
Bridge Plaque (Gerber)
Future Publication – A Question (Gerber)
A Reminder
Canal Boat Rides (ACS)
National Canal Museum & Heritage Corridor to Merge
Middlesex Canal Stock Certificates
Miscellany

April 2013 (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Fifty Years of ... Towpath Topics
Canal Boat Ride Concessions
Notice of Amendment of Bylaws
Folk Art Sale (Gerber & Williams)
Middlesex Canal Bridges (Gerber)
Principal [US] Canals, circa 1839
New Stamp Issue - A Baldwin Apple (Bigwood)
Miscellany

January 2013 (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
For Future Planning
Fifty Years of ... Towpath Topics
More on the Baldwin Dry Docks
Historical Middlesex Canal Document
Bylaws - An Early Alert
Fiftieth Anniversary Tour (Silva, Breen, & others)
The Baldwin Shovel (Gerber)
What Could It Have Been Used For? (Gerber)
Toll House Facelift (Gerber)
The Middlesex Canal (Lorin L. Dame)
Miscellany
Officers & Directors 2012-2013

September 2012  (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
Happy Birthday to Lou Eno
Remembering Cathy Lawson (Gerber)
Updates - Nolan Jones
Middlesex Canal Commission Receives Grant (Raphael)
The Convent by the Middlesex Canal (Seaburg)
Update - Baldwin Genealogy (Gerber)
More about the Baldwin Dry Docks (Gerber)
A Packet on the Merrimack? (Gerber)
A Boat Load of Cordwood & A Mystery (Gerber)
Miscellany

March 2012  (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (J.J. Breen)
Calendar of Events
Baldwin & the Great Seal (Tom Raphael)
Harvesting Canal Ice (Bill Gerber & Susan Williams)
Chelmsford (Bill Gerber)
It Was a Family Thing (Bill Gerber & Susan Williams)
Passports (Bill Gerber)
Miscellany

January 2012  (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (Breen)
Calendar of Events
Our Fall Walk - October 2011 (Roger Hagopian, Howard Winkler)
Community Involvement (Bill Gerber)
Remembering David Dettinger (Bill Gerber)
The Baldwin Dry Docks (Howard Winkler)
Canal and River Navigation Locks (Bill Gerber)
Sustenance, A Question (Bill Gerber)
The World Canals Conference (Tom Raphael)

September 2011  (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (Breen)
Calendar of Events
Remembering Two “Pillars” of the Middlesex Canal Association
   Wilbar Hoxie
   D. Bruce McHenry
Five Weeks at the West End Museum (Bigwood)
Towpath Topics Archive (Winters)
Symmes River Aqueduct (Raphael)
Extracts from Thoreau (Winkler)
Colonial Currency (Raphael)
Plans ... to restore local waterway (Bowen & Harrington-Davis)
Officers & Directors 2011-2012
Miscellany

April 2011  (PDF version) (Flash version)
MCA Activities
President's Message (Bill Gerber)
Calendar of Events
The Concord River (Bill Gerber)
Updates (Bill Gerber)
Chuck's Channel (Bill Gerber & Chuck Mower)
L. Baldwin's Report … Middlesex Proprietors (transcription)
Miscellany

January 2011  (PDF version) (Flash version)
President's Message (Bill Gerber)
Calendar of Events
The Canal & Quincy Market (Alan Seaburg)
Historic Tavern Graffiti (Bill Gerber & Dick Bentz)
New York Canal Commissioners' 1816 Visit (Bill Gerber)
Biographies of James Sullivan and Loammi Baldwin (Howard Winkler)
A Middlesex Canal Mystery (Tom Dahill)
Miscellany

September 2010
President's Message (Bill Gerber)
Calendar of Events
Honoring Dettinger on his 91st (Betty Bigwood)
Letters First Published ... #5, by J.L. Sullivan (Howard Winkler)
Instructions to the Colonel - by J. F. Baldwin (Bill Gerber)
America's First Canal? Various Possible Answers (Alan Seaburg)
Endowment Fund (Betty Bigwood)
A NPS Trip through [the] Pawtucket Canal (Neil Devins)
World Canal Conference, Serbia, Sept 2009 (Connie & Tom Raphael)
Miscellany

April 2010
President's Message - by Bill Gerber
Calendar of Events
A Gala Event to Honor Tom Dahill - by Betty Bigwood
Endeavors in Education - by Traci Jansen
Letters First Published ... #4, by Sullivan - contributed by Howard Winkler
Change (a.k.a. 'Turnover') Bridges - by Roger Squires
Scofflaws on the Canal - by Bill Gerber
Tour Digs Up the Past of Middlesex Canal - by Jennifer Myers, Lowell Sun
Lance Metz, National Canal Museum Historian, Honored
Miscellany

February 2010
President's Message - Bill Gerber, President Pro Tempore
Calendar of Events
James Sullivan's Resting Place - a correction
Middlesex Canal National Register Chronology
Sullivan's Towboats - Bill Gerber
Miscellany

October 2009
President's Message - Bill Gerber
Calendar of Events
When Boston was Cut in Two - MCA Fall Meeting
The Middlesex Canal Commission - Tom Raphael
James Sullivan's Resting Place - Howard Winkler
Letters, First Published #3, J. L. Sullivan - submitted by Howard Winkler
Canals of Cambridge and the Middlesex Canal - Alan Seaburg
Life on the Middlesex Canal - book review by Traci Jansen
Folklore and Music of the Rivers and Canals - Bill Gerber
Function Room Rental & Miscellany

April 2009
President's Message (Nolan Jones)
Calendar of Events
Project Update, Middlesex Canal Commission (Tom Raphael)
Loammi Baldwin's 1795 Progress Report on the Construction of the Middlesex Canal (David Dettinger)
Letters First Published in the Boston Daily Advertiser #2 (transcribed by Howard Winkler)
James Sullivan's Birthplace (Howard Winkler)
The Baldwin Apple
A New Baldwin Apple Orchard for the Sanborn House (Sue Clark)
Wife-Swapping on the Ohio & Erie (Canal Fulton, as told by Dillow Robinson)
Raft Lock? What's a Raft Lock? (Bill Gerber)
A Tribute to Jane Boyd Drury (Bill Gerber)
Miscellany

January 2009
President's Message (Nolan Jones)
Calendar of Events
Locks and Canals of the Merrimack River (Bill Gerber)
Function Room Rental

October 2008
President’s Message (Nolan Jones)
Calendar of Events
Middlesex Canal Commission - Summary Report (Tom Raphael)
Spring MCA-AMC Canal Walk (Roger Hagopian, Robert Winters)
The Future of Our Museum (Alan Seaburg)
Letters, First Published ... Boston Daily Advertiser (Howard Winkler)
William Weston ... Contribution to Early American Engineering
About Billerica ... Beginning ... Nineteenth Century (Marshall)
Out for a Walk along the Canal with my Dad (Proctor)
The Old Middlesex Canal – 1898 (Houser)
Early Tools for Moving Earth (Bill Gerber)
Photos and Miscellany

March 2008
President’s Message (Jones)
Calendar Of Events
Fall MCA-AMC Canal Walk (Hagopian & Winters)
Biography Of William Weston (Skempton, Et Al)
Which Side -- Towpath (Gerber)
The Canal That Bisected Boston (Dettinger)
Anchor Stone (Winkler)
Washington - Potomac Canal (Peters)
Rum (Standage)
Quibbles, Quarrels & Questions (Gerber)
Miscellany

September 2007
Bicycle Tour of the Historic Middlesex Canal
46th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
President’s Message
MCA Fall Meeting
Calendar of Events
A Tribute to Martha Hazen - by Betty Bigwood
Spring 2007 Canal Walk Report - by Roger Hagopian and Bill Gerber
Middlesex Canal Ox Bow - by Howard B. Winkler
Baldwin Family Papers at the Winterthur Museum Library, Kennet Sq., DE - as reported by Bill Gerber
Baldwin Green Restoration Project - City of Woburn - Summer/Fall 2007
Transportation Canals of Eastern Mass. and South Central NH - A Different Perspective - by Bill Gerber
Response to a Proposed Canal Engineer Survey Techniques Field Workshop - by Bill Gerber and Ryn Agnew
Tribute to Shayne Reardon - by Tom Dahill for the Committee on the Museum
The Middlesex Canal Endowment Fund - Helping to Make our Vision a Reality - by Alan Seaburg

October 2006
45th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk
Historic Bicycle Tour of Middlesex Canal
President's Message
Short Biographies of James Sullivan and Loammi Baldwin - referred by Howard Winkler
Continuation of Discussion of the Name General Sullivan or a Packet Boat - by Howard B. Winkler
Wm. Weston to Aaron Dexter - contributed by David Dettinger
Locks to Sleep By - by David Dettinger
Restoring the Canal - by Thomas Raphael
The National Register of the Middlesex canal - by Thomas Raphael
Middlesex Canal Association Speakers Bureau - by Alan Seaburg
Project Ideas and Volunteer Opportunities - by Bill Gerber
Middlesex Canal Association Officers and Directors 2006-2007
World Canals Conference - by Nolan Jones
Upcoming Events
Note on the People of the Middlesex Canal Association - Robert Winters, Editor
An Apology and an Invitation - Robert Winters, Editor
Photo of new mural at Middlesex Canal Museum

October 2005
44th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk
President's Message
Middlesex Canal - Amending the Nation Register of Historic Sites - by Thomas Raphael
MCA-AMC Spring Walk along the Middlesex Canal, Wilmington Section
Parade in Chelmsford - Shayne Reardon
Letter to the Editor - Fred Lawson
Charles Dickens Account of his Trip on the Pennsylvania Canal
Bettina Hall Harrison
Canal Restoration and Tourism
Middlesex Canal Association Land
Calendar of Upcoming Events: 2005-2006
Photo of new mural at Middlesex Canal Museum

April 2005
Middlesex Canal Association Spring Walk
The General Sullivan - Howard Winkler
Annual Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
Vice-President's Message - Tom Dahill
New Year's Day Party at the Museum - Shayne Reardon
Museum Notes - Shayne Reardon
Signs of the Middlesex Canal
Edith Choate and Fran VerPlanck
Fran VerPlanck's Angel Gingerbread
Middlesex Canal Facts - Bill Gerber
Photos from New Years Day 2004, 2005 and Middlesex Canal Bike Ride

September 2004
43rd Annual Old Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
Upcoming Events
President’s Message
The Pleasure Barge - by Howard B. Winkler, Treasurer
Our Spring Walk 2004 - by Roger Hagopian, with contributions by Howard Winkler
The North Canal at Lawrence - by Bill Gerber
Canaling in “Old” Europe in 1876 - by Alan Seaburg
Notes On Early Transportation In Massachusetts [previously published in the October 1978 issue of Towpath Topics]
Middlesex Canal Association Officers and Directors 2004-2005
Presidents of the Middlesex Canal Association

March 2004
Spring Canal Walk
Upcoming Events
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Docent Training Day
Spring Tea
MCA-AMC Fall 2003 Canal Walk Report - by Bill Gerber and Roger Hagopian
Middlesex Canal Bicentennial Bash - by Shayne Reardon
The Proprietors of Locks and Canals on the Merrimack River: What else did they do? - by Bill Gerber
Excerpts from Thoreau’s “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers”
The Pawtucket Canal at Lowell - by Bill Gerber
Learning the History of the Middlesex Canal: Our Future Members - by Betty M. Bigwood
Marion Potter 1907-2004
A Brief Biography of Christopher Roberts - by Carl and Alan Seaburg and Thomas Dahill

December 2003 (Robert Winters, Editor)
Bicentennial Bash - Special Edition

September 2003
Middlesex Canal Association Fall Walk
Fall Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
2003 Canal Heritage Days
Editor's Note - by Martha Hazen
The Spring Canal Walk - 2003 - by Bill Gerber
For 300 Years, Two Neighbors Have Been Taken for Granite - by Libbie Payne
Spring Meeting - 2003 - by Roger Hagopian
Crossing the Concord River - The Middlesex Canal Floating Towpath - by Bill Gerber
Cost to Build the Middlesex Canal in the 21st Century - by Howard Winkler

March 2003
Middlesex Canal Association Spring Walk
Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting, Spring 2003
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Loammi Baldwin in World War II - by Howard B. Winkler
A Day at the Baker: “Keeping in Touch” - by Betty M. Bigwood
Resting Place of Loammi Baldwin - submitted by Howard B. Winkler
The Baldwins as Aqueduct Builders for the Water Supply of Boston? - by Roger Hagopian
Did You Ever Wonder about the Origin of the Name “Loammi”? - by Howard B. Winkler
1803 - It was a Very Good Year - by Betty M. Bigwood
Our 2002 Fall Canal Walk - Roger Hagopian
The Middlesex Canal Museum and Visitor Center
Farewell, Old Friend - by Betty Bigwood
Grant Funding Keeps the Middlesex Canal Museum Growing and Improving!
Have You Visited the Middlesex Canal Association Web Site Yet??
Upcoming Events

September 2002
Fall Walk
Fall Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
MCA Loses another Friend - by Betty Bigwood
MCA-AMC Spring Canal Walk - by Bill Gerber and Roger Hagopian
Dramatic Work Presented at the Museum - by Norman Donchin
Walter D. Edmond's Erie Canal Stories - by Alan Seaburg
Nathaniel Hawthorne on the Erie Canal - by Howard Winkler
Family Ties and Loyal Friends Transcend History and Legend - by Marie Coady
Bicentennial Celebration of Baldwin, Maine - by Betty Bigwood
Origins of the Middlesex Canal Association - by Betty Bigwood
Search for Anchor Stone at East End of Floating Towpath - contributed by Bill Gerber
Note from the Editor

March 2002
Spring Walk
Annual Meeting
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Burt VerPlanck: October 16, 1917 - November 27, 2001
Memories of “Burt” VerPlanck - by Roger Hagopian
Our Fall Canal Walk 2001 - by Roger Hagopian
Fran and Burt’s Wonderful Adventure - by Alan Seaburg
The Roaming Middlesex Canal Tollhouse (Now on Chelmsford Common) - by Jane Drury
Canals of the Merrimack River - by William E. Gerber
VerPlanck Memorial Fund

September 2001
Fall Walk
Fall Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Further Note on the Canal Seal
A Day at the Baker - by Betty M. Bigwood
Yankee Doodle Days in Billerica
Wicasee Canal Dam and Lock - by Bill Gerber
Book Review - The Incredible Ditch: A Bicentennial History of the Middlesex Canal - Reviewed by Linda Barth
Inspection of Post-Flood Canal Conditions - by Roger Hagopian
Free Passage? - by Howard B. Winkler
Middlesex Canal Museum & Visitor Center Opens to the Public
MCA Spring Canal Walk - by Roger Hagopian
Canal Heritage Days - by Tom Dahill

March 2001
Middlesex Canal Association Spring Walk
Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting, Spring 2001
Further Notes on the Canal Seal - from Howard Winkler
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
The MCA-AMC Fall Walk 2000
Bicentennial Lecture - Boston's Forgotten Canal
American Who Spied for Redcoats Lauded - by Roger Hagopian
Surveying the Middlesex Canal - by Thomas Raphael
Locks and Canal of the Merrimack River - by Bill Gerber
Comments from William Gerber, 22 October 2000
Opening of the Faulkner Mills Visitors Center and Museum - by Thomas Dahill

September 2000
Middlesex Canal Association Fall Walk
Fall Meeting - Extending the Middlesex Canal
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
The Faulkner Mills - by Alan Seaburg
Grand Opening of the Middlesex Canal Visitors Center
Two Weeks on the Canal Du Midi - by Martha L. Hazen
World Canals Conference 2000 - by Nolan Jones
The Middlesex Canal Seal Revisited: Translation of the Words on the Banner
Locks and Canals of the Merrimack River - by Bill Gerber

March 2000
Spring Walk
Annual Meeting, Spring 2000
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Canal Calendar
Bicentennial Lecture Recalls Colonel Loammi Baldwin and his Sons - by David Dettinger
Facts Respecting Union Canal - by James L. Sullivan, 1813
New Web Page for the MCA
The MCA-AMC Fall Canal Walk - by Bill Gerber
MCA Winter Program Features Videos of Irish Canal
The Middlesex Canal Seal - by Thomas Dahill
Communication from Robert Fulton (continued) - contributed by Howard B. Winkler

September 1999
Middlesex Canal Association Fall Meeting - 1999
Middlesex Canal Association Fall Walk
Middlesex Canal Exhibition
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
World Canal Conference 1999 - by Nolan Jones
The MCA Spring Walk 1999 - by Roger Hagopian
Count Rumford in Munich and Woburn - by Howard B. Winkler
Edward Everett Hale on the Middlesex Canal
National Park Service Features Middlesex Canal Association Speaker - by Dave Dettinger
Middlesex Canal Day - Lowell National Historical Park, Sunday, June 20
Canal Calendar

March 1999
Middlesex Canal Association Annual Meeting
Spring Walk
The Bunker Hill Museum - contributed by Kathryn Downing
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Middlesex Canal Commission Status Report
Historical Survey Underway - by Bruce McHenry
Donation of Canal Land to the MCA - by Betty Bigwood
In Memoriam: Carl Gerrard Seaburg 1922 - 1998 - by Alan Seaburg
Constable on Canals - by Alan Seaburg
Voices from the Past (James F. Baldwin) - contributed by Thomas Raphael
Boats and Boating on the Middlesex Canal - by Dave Dettinger
The Baldwin Family - by Thomas Raphael
1998 Fall Bus Tour and Walk - by Roger Hagopian
Regarding Change (Martin van Buren) - contributed by Howard Winkler

September 1998
Lowell National Historical Park Middlesex Canal Day
Fall Meeting - Boats and Boating on the Middlesex Canal
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Spring Walk 1998 - by Roger Hagopian
Report on The Incredible Ditch - by Carl Seaburg
Winchester Canal Stones Retrieved - by Tom Raphael
Middle Saxon - by Howard Winkler
Brooks Estate Dedication - by Thomas Raphael
More on the Erie Canal Park at Camillus, New York - by Dave Dettinger

April 1998
Spring Walk 1998
Annual Meeting
Visit of British Canalers to Middlesex Canal - by Nolan Jones
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Canal History and Technology Symposium - by Nolan Jones
Canal Exhibit at Harvard University - by Alan Seaburg
The Incredible Ditch – A Bicentennial History of the Middlesex Canal - by Carl Seaburg, Alan Seaburg, and Tom Dahill
Blackstone Ranger Gets Award - by Bruce McHenry
Middlesex Canal Association Took to the Boats and Explored the Pawtucket Canal - by David Dettinger
Lowell's Portion of the Middlesex Canal – Some Suggestions and Recommendations - by Alan P. Small
The Erie Canal Park at Camillus, New York - by Alan Seaburg
Wilmington – “Hopstown” - by Thomas Raphael
1997 World Canals Conference - by Dave Barber
Middlesex Canal Annual Fall Walk - 1997 - by Roger Hagopian
Historic Canal Stones to be Preserved - by Thomas Raphael
A Boat for the Blackstone Canal - by Dave Barber
Lecture at National Canal Museum - by Nolan Jones

September 1997
Middlesex Canal Association Takes to the Boats!! - Exploring the Pawtucket Canal
Middlesex Canal Annual Fall Walk - 1997
Planning Beginning on Canal Park
Annual Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association, May 4, 1997
Middlesex Canal Spring Walk - 1997 - by Bill Gerber
Some Structures in the Merrimack River - by Bill Gerber
Application for the National Registry Underway
Final Canal Marker in Place (Billerica)
Exhibit Guidelines Published
Middlesex Canal Association Officers and Directors 1997-1998

March 1997
Annual Meeting, May 4, 1997
Spring Walk, June 7, 1997
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
1997 World Canals Conference
A New History of the Middlesex Canal (preview of The Incredible Ditch)
Middlesex Canal at the SIA Conference - by Nolan Jones
The Monmouthshire Canal - by Phil Hughes (Brecon & Monmouthshire Canal Trust)
Middlesex Canal Fall Walk – 1996 - by Bill Gerber, with input from Roger Hagopian and Tom Raphael
Design Charrette for the Concord River Millpond Park, February 15, 1997 - by Roger Hagopian
The Warwickshire Ring, Part 2 - by David Barber
Order Form (1997 prices and selection)

September 1996
Fall Walk
Bicentennial Colloquium
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Middlesex Canal Video Project Completed - by Roger Hagopian
Report of the Middlesex Canal Commission - by Thomas Raphael, Chairman
Pawtucket Canal Day in Lowell
Just Off the Press - A New Guidebook to the Middlesex Canal (Burt VerPlanck)
A Ride in the Dragonfly on the Brecon and Montmouthshire Canal - by Nolan Jones
National Canal Museum - by Dave Barber
World Canal Conference - by Dave Barber
The Warwickshire Ring, Part 1 - by Dave Barber

March 1996
Annual Meeting
Spring Walk
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Middlesex Canal Commission Reactivated
Bicentennial Colloquium
Middlesex Canal Map
Chelmsford Toll House Gets a New Life - by Laura Doyle, Lowell Sun Staff
Canal Events Elsewhere
Birthday Celebration in Billerica - by Betty Bigwood
Editor's Note
Informing the Public

September 1995
32nd Annual Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
Future Event
In Memoriam - Edward E. Wood, Jr. 1913-1995
Bicentennial Colloquium
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Facts Everyone Should Know about the Middlesex Canal (1793-1853) - gathered by Betty Bigwood
Erie Canal Beckons - by Dave Dettinger
1995 Annual Meeting of the Middlesex Canal Association
Olin Corporation Wells - by Nolan Jones
An Expanded Canal System as an Alternative to Railroads in 1890 - Review by Roger K. Hagopian
Adventures on the Rideau Canal - by Martha L. Hazen
Spring Walk - 1995
Money in 1793 (or Not Worth a Continental) - by Thomas Raphael
Officers and Directors 1995-96

March 1995
Spring Walk
Annual Meeting
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Ground Breaking Bicentennial - contributed by Burt VerPlanck
In Memoriam – Mary Stetson Clarke  1911-1994
The Shawsheen Aqueduct - by Alec Ingraham
T-Shirts, Hats, Notepaper, Books, and Posters For Sale
Two Canal Scenes on Christmas Ornament
Some Comments on Mr. Fulton's Communication - contributed by Howard B. Winkler
Our Annual Fall Canal Walk (1994) - by Roger K. Hagopian
Winter Meeting 1995
Note from the Editor
Canal Calendar
Other Canal Societies

September 1994
31st Annual Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
Middlesex Canal Ground Breaking Bicentennial
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Canal Lover Earns Thanks for Efforts - by William R. Grasso, Correspondent
More on the Canal Stones in the Winchester Town Forest - by Thomas Raphael
Annual Meeting - May 8, 1994
Our 1994 Annual Spring Canal Walk - by Betty Bigwood
Communication from Robert Fulton - contributed by Howard Winkler
Mary L. Pineo
MCA Meets Trent and Mersey Canal Society
Officers and Directors 1994-1995

March 1994
Spring Canal Walk in Wilmington
Annual Meeting - May 8, 1993
Delaware & Hudson Canal Field Trip
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Dues Increase
Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Middlesex Canal - contributed by Howard Winkler
Middlesex Canal Note Paper
Blackstone Canal Conservancy
Blackstone Canal - Canalfest '94
Canal Beer!
Bicentennial Ground Breaking Ceremony
1993 Fall Canal Walk - Between Aqueducts - contributed by Nolan Jones
Winter Meeting
Haulin' Down to Boston on the Middlesex Canal - music and lyrics by David Dettinger
Middlesex Canal Books
Correction
Agriculture and Industry: The Uneasy Alliance - by Catherine Clement, Esq.

September 1993
Launching the Middlesex Canal
Blanchard Tavern
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Fall Canal Walk
Middlesex Canal – Chronology - by Tom Raphael
Hadley House Fire - contributed by Burt VerPlanck
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Charlestown
Winchester Canal Stones - by Thomas Raphael
Poster Presented to Governor Weld
Middlesex Canal Books
Correction
Shawsheen Aqueduct
Annual Meeting - 1993

March 1993
Annual Meeting
Spring Canal Walk
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
The “Colonel Baldwin”
The 29th Annual Middlesex Canal Fall Walk - contributed by Betty Bigwood
Guide to the Lehigh Canal
Fall Meeting 1992 - Middlesex Canal Tour by Air
Bicentennial Reenactment - Progress Report
British Waterways Visitor
A Towpath Topic - by Burt VerPlanck
Bicentennial Poster
Winter Meeting 1993
The Middlesex Canal - by H. Hobart Holly
New Members and Proprietors
New England Canals Featured on TV Channel 5

September 1992
29th Annual Middlesex Canal Fall Walk
Fall Meeting -Sunday, November 15, 1992
Dedication of the Joseph V. Kopycinski Collection
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Spring Meeting 1992
Canal Clean-Up in Billerica, May 1992 - contributed by Carolyn Osterberg
This Time the “Redcoats” Were Tourists - by Bill Gerber
Middlesex Canal Tollhouse for Landing #8 - by Jane Drury
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Somerville
A Short History of the Middlesex Canal Association - by Arthur L. Eno, First President of the Middlesex Canal Association
Growing Up on the C&O Canal - by Douglas Bruce McHenry
Advance Notice - An Historical Reenactment: Launching the Middlesex Canal

March 1992
Annual Meeting - Sunday, April 26, 1992
Upcoming Events
Fall Meeting 1991
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Fall Canal Walk, 1991 – Billerica, Chelmsford and Lowell - contributed by Bill Gerber
Winter Meeting 1992
Gift of Historic Photographs
Dedication of Chelmsford Canal Monument
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Medford
The Boston and Lowell Railroad - by Francis B. C. Bradley, 1918

September 1991
28th Old Middlesex Canal Walk
Fall Meeting, November 17, 1991
Spring Meeting 1991
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Of Canals, Turnpikes and Railroads - by Thomas Raphael
Spring Canal Walk in Woburn - contributed by Dave Dettinger
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Winchester
Through the Middlesex Canal - poem by Judith Tuck, 1933
It Pays to Have a Good Conservation Administrator in your Town - contributed by Betty Bigwood

March 1991
Annual Meeting - April 28, 1991
Spring Canal Walk - May 18, 1991
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Baldwin Restaurant Opens - by Fran VerPlanck
Fall Meeting - October 1990
27th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - contributed by Bill Gerber
Winter Meeting 1991
MCA Members Share Love of History - by Sharon Iovanni
Update on the Tennessee Gas Line Project - by Betty Bigwood
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Woburn
Book Note (New York State Canal Guide - Western Region) - by Martha Hazen
Early Canals on the Merrimack River - by Charles H. Mower

October 1990
27th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk
Fall Meeting - October 28, 1990
Winter Meeting - January 13, 1991
President's Message - by Burt VerPlanck
Earth Day - A Positive Approach - by Betty Bigwood
At Long Last, A Wrong to be Righted - by Betty Bigwood
Annual Meeting, April 1990 - Count Rumford - contributed by Frances VerPlanck
Map of the Old Middlesex Canal Route through Billerica
Prominent Author Departs Melrose - Clarke Plans Move to Scituate - by Isabelle Brown
The Spring Walk, 1990 - A Little Longer This Year - by Betty Bigwood
Officers and Directors 1990-1991
Update on Baldwin mansion

March 1990
Count Rumford and Annual Meeting, April 28, 1990
Spring Canal Walk - May 19, 1990
Volunteers Needed: Blackstone Canal Restoration
Mary Stetson Clarke Honored
President's Message - David Allen Fitch
MCA Loses Two More Friends
Waltham Bank Bids $650K for Baldwin Mansion - by William F. Sullivan, Woburn Times Chronicle
Fall Meeting 1989: Patrick Mogan Cultural Center
The Pawpaw Tunnel - by David Dettinger
January Meeting: The Cumberland and Oxford Canal
“Elegant Skating” - contributed by Frances VerPlanck
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Wilmington
Fall Canal Walk - 1989 - by Frances B. VerPlanck
Update on the Hadley House
Survey and Plan for Middlesex Canal - 1793

September 1989
26th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk
Upcoming Events: Fall Meeting and Winter Meeting
President's Message - David Allen Fitch
American Canal Society Meets in Lowell - by Bill Gerber
Malcolm Choate Honored at Harvard
Remarks at Presentation of Book to Harvard Library in Memory of Malcolm Choate - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr.
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Lowell
Canals of Britain - History and Restoration - by Jeremy Frankel
Spring Walk
Canal Maps Revised
Glass Slides Copied
Officers and Directors 1989-1990

March 1989
Canal Tour and Annual Meeting - May 7, 1989
President's Message - David Allen Fitch
Billerica Historic District Study Committee Formed
Canals of New England: American Canal Society Spring 1989 Field Trip
In Memoriam - Malcolm Charles Choate 1912 - 1988
MCA Loses Another Good Friend (Paul Pearsall, former president of the Middlesex Canal Association)
Fall Canal Walk 1988 - by Howard B. Winkler
MCA Granted easement in Chelmsford - by Jane B. Drury
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Chelmsford
Faulkner Mills to be Rehabilitated
Middlesex Canal Archival Collection - by Frances B. VerPlanck
The Hadley House - by Albert J. Welcome
November Meeting: Lowell Heritage State park
February Meeting: Canaling on the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario
Officers and Directors 1988-1989

October 1988
November 13 Meeting and Program
President's Message - David Allen Fitch
Tennessee Gas Company to Restore Section of Middlesex Canal - by Betty M. Bigwood
British Inland Waterways Holiday Cruises
Excerpts from the Middlesex Canal Heritage Park Feasibility Study (1980)
Map of Proposed Mill Pond Park (N. Billerica)
Map of Old Middlesex Canal Route through Wilmington
April Meeting: Early History of Civil Engineering in the United States with Reference to Canal Design and Construction
Wilmington Spring Canal Walk - by Betty Bigwood
September Meeting: Blackstone Canal Heritage State Park
Thanks to a Good Friend (Malcolm Choate)
Arlington Used to be a Middlesex canal Town - by Howard B. Winkler
Stranger in a Strange Land - by Jeremy Frankel
Officers and Directors 1988-1989

March 1988
April Meeting
Spring Canal Walk
President's Message - David Allen Fitch
Joint Meeting with American Canal Society?
Fall 1988 National Conference on Canals
Canal Walk in Billerica - by Howard Winkler
Red Flags on the Towpath
Another Friend Locks Through
Reports of Meetings
The Middlesex Canal: Prototype for American Canal Building - by Thomas Proctor
The Lost Canal Townships - by Tom Smith
Early Iron Bridge over the Middlesex Canal - Lowell Daily Journal and Courier, 1849
Newspaper Clippings - from the Massachusetts Mercury, 1999 - contributed by Jane Drury
Book and Brochures
Officers and Directors 1987-1988

September 1987
26th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 17, 1987
November Meeting
A Message from the Board of Directors
Canalman Visits Wilmington - by Betty Bigwood
Middlesex Canal Commission Signs - by Burt VerPlanck
Towpath Route to a Different World - by Jonathan Morris, lock keeper at Tyrley

March 1987 (Martha Hazen, Editor)
Annual Spring Meeting
Letter from the President - by Paul P. Pearsall
“The Old Middlesex Canal” - notes on the new, revised edition of Mary Stetson Clarke's book
The Middlesex Canal - by Thomas Proctor
In Memoriam (Joseph V. Kopycinski)
Scouting in Service
Working Party to Repair Towpath
Middlesex Canal Commission Signs
Winter Meeting Cancelled
Middlesex Canal Operation - 1805, James Sullivan, Loammi Baldwin

October 1986
25th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 25, 1986
Canal Restored by Private Company in Billerica!
Reprint of 1793 Press Report of Preliminary Route Survey of the Middlesex Canal by Loammi Baldwin and Others
Encroaching Suburbs
November Meeting

May 1986
Annual Meeting - May 10, 1986
A Sad Note
Letter from the Middlesex Canal Commission
A Voice from the Past: “Upper Medford” and the Middlesex Canal - Medford Historical Society (1928), selections of Tom Proctor
Proprietor's Certificates

October 1985
24th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 19, 1985
Partial Index to Towpath Topics
The Medford Branch Canal - by Henry S. Condon
Map of Medford Branch Canal
Trip to the Black River and Rideau Canals
President Resigns
Dues
November Meeting
Organization Meeting (beginning of the Middlesex Canal Association at 8:30pm, Thursday, July 26, 1962)

April 1985
Annual Spring Meeting - May 4, 1985
The Records of the Middlesex Canal Corporation: An Enduring Legacy with a New Finding Aid - by Thomas C. Proctor, M.A.
Canal Association Notice (re: Henry Condon's lecture “The Middlesex Canal and Medford”)
Photo of Bed of Middlesex Canal near Mystic Lake, Winchester

October 1984
Middlesex Canal Association Canal Walk - October 27, 1984
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Fall Meeting
Winter Meeting
Canada I Tour - 1985
Tidbits from 1795 Bills
Officers and Directors 1984-1985

April 1984
Canal Walk and Annual Meeting - May 12, 1984
“Homestead . . . . . Some Sketches of the Baldwin Mansion” - by Tom Smith
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Site of Middlesex Canal Locks Determined (Merrimack River)

October 1983
Diagram from Survey of the Middlesex Canal at the Merrimack River
The Erie Canal Trip
From the Editor's Desk
22nd Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 22, 1983
Photos of the Toll House at Middlesex Village
President's Message - by Nolan Jones
Letter to Caleb Eddy from Daniel Webster
Fall Meeting - November 20, 1983
Canal Calendar

April 1983
Gift of Wilmington Land to MCA by Stanley Webber and his Daughter Julia Fielding, January 22, 1983
Preservation of Part of the Middlesex Canal: 1853 - 1983 - by Stanley Webber & Julia Ann Fielding
Notice of Canal Walk and Annual Meeting - May 7, 1983
President's Message - by Larry Henchey
Early Bill for Advertising (Middlesex Canal Records)
Woburn Canal News
Lowell Canal Tour Season Begins May 28
Canal Calendar

October 1982 (Joseph V. Kopycinski, Editor)
21st Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 23, 1982
President's Message - by Larry Henchey
Fall Meeting - November 6, 1982
Woburn Canal News Notes
Officers and Directors 1982-1983
Bibliography from Lewis Lawrence's book “The Middlesex Canal”
Diagram of Sections of the Middlesex Canal, 1830

April 1982
Annual Meeting - May 8, 1982
President's Message - by Larry Henchey
Inaugural Tour of the Lowell Portion of the Middlesex Canal - by Joseph V. Kopycinski
The Great Billerica Dam Controversy - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr.
Brief Notes - Baldwin Landing Restaurant
Woburn Canal Park behind the Woburn Library
Gift of Richardson Deed
Along the Towpath . . . (People, Events, and Canal Notes)

October 1981
20th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 24, 1981
Canal Clean Up
President's Message - by Larry Henchey
Note from the Woburn Historical Commission re: the boat “Colonel Baldwin”
Sketches of the “Colonel Baldwin” - by Leonard Harmon
The Toothaker (?) Tavern (?) - by Jane B. Drury

April 1981
Annual Meeting and Champagne Reception - April 11, 1981
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Lowell Canal Tour - May 24, 1981
Letter from Middlesex Canal Commission
Canal Association Exhibit Underway at Transportation Museum
Museum of Transportation to Establish Permanent Canal Exhibit
List of Members of the Middlesex Canal Association 1964-1969

January 1981
Winter Meeting - January 17, 1981
Middlesex Canal Heritage Park Feasibility Study - Summary of Report Recommendations
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck

October 1980
19th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 18, 1980
Announcements for Fall, Winter, and Spring Meetings
The Middlesex Canal – An Analysis of its Accounting and Management - by Linda H. Kistler, edited by A. L. Eno, Jr.
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck

April 1980
Annual Meeting - April 26, 1980
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
The John L. Sullivan & Samuel Morey Connection - by Alice Doan Hodgson

January 1980
Winter Meeting - January 27, 1980
Annual Meeting Notice - April 26, 1980
President's Report - by Fran VerPlanck
From the Canal Archives . . . . A Fishing Agreement - Jon. Page, J.L. Sullivan, 1812
The Billerica Grist Mill Controversy

October 1979
Fall Meeting - October 21, 1979
18th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 27, 1979
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
From the Archives . . . . Letter from Caleb Eddy, 1852
Packet Boat Completes Third Season
Report from Middlesex Canal Commission
Tragedy at the Aqueduct - Photo of Trolley Car Accident in Billerica, from MCA Collection
Memorandum of Agreement Document by Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, 1795

May 1979
Annual Meeting - May 19, 1979
Proposed Amendments to By-Laws and to Articles of Organization
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Note on Lewiston Mills Canal and the Cumberland and Oxford Canal, Both in Maine
$20,000 Grant for Middlesex Canal Planning Study
Copy of Early Middlesex Canal Deed
Medford Steamboat Days - by Moses Whitcher Mann, Medford Historical Register, 1914
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot - draft horses of the Woburn Canalers

February 1979
Mid Winter Snowshoe and Cross Country Ski Hike
A Ride in the Good Old Times on the Middlesex Canal
A Letter - Woburn, 1840
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Editorial Note - Leonard Harmon Receives Award from American Association for State and Local History
From the Archives . . . . Letter from Caleb Eddy, 1835
Some Early North American Canals - by Dirk Struik
Report from the Middlesex Canal Commission

October 1978
17th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - October 28, 1978
Notice of Winter Meeting - February 10, 1979
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Notes on Early Transportation in Massachusetts - Prof. George L. Vose, Later Days of the 19th Century
Arnold H. Barben  1905 - 1978
In Memoriam
Middlesex Canal Commission Member List

April 1978
Spring Annual Meeting - April 29, 1978
By-Law Amendments
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Middlesex Canal Association Proprietors 1977-1978
Activities of the Middlesex Canal Commission
From the Archives – Estate of Loammi Baldwin vs. Middlesex Canal (1811)

January 1978
Winter Meeting - January 15, 1978
The Shawsheen Aqueduct Restored - by Robert E. Valyou
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Tavern Days in Woburn – The Old Canal Town - by Thomas Andrew Smith

September 1977
AMC Canal Walk - September 24, 1977
President's Message - by Fran VerPlanck
Packet Boat Completes First Season
Chelmsford Toll House
Officers and Directors 1977-1978
State Canal Commission Becomes a Reality (photo and copy of the legislative act)
Comment on the Legislation
The Baldwin Apple - by Thomas A. Smith

April 1977
Annual Meeting - April 30, 1977
Note from the Historical Commission of the City of Woburn
The Rail Road and the Canal (1830 legislative committee report)
A Letter from the Middlesex Canal Papers – To Caleb Eddy from Charles Storrow (1842)
President's Page - by Wilbar M. Hoxie
“Middlesex Canal Commission”?

January 1977
Photo of Old Toll House at Middlesex Village
Winter Meeting - January 30, 1977
Boating on the Merrimack I - Saturday Vox Populi, Lowell 1878
Boating on the Merrimack II - What Has Been – A Sketch of the Old Middlesex Canal, by One of the Original Company - Lexington Minute Man, 1882
Boating on the Merrimack III - by Leonard H. Harmon
Election: Officers and Directors 1976-1977

September 1976
Autumn Activities - 15th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk in Billerica
MDC Shelter Built on Towpath (Sandy Beach, Winchester)
National Transportation Week 1976
Colonel Baldwin, Replica of an 1803 Middlesex Canal Boat
Preservation News

April 1976
Middlesex Canal Spring Field Trip
Annual Meeting - April 25, 1976
A Ride in the Good Old Times on the Middlesex Canal - Woburn Journal, 1855
Notes on writings of Melville Munro, Christopher Roberts, and Lewis Lawrence
Reproduction of Joseph Payro Painting of Middlesex Canal and Baldwin's Estate (centerfold)
Professor Douglas P. Adams (obituary)

January 1976
Winter Meeting - January 25, 1976 (lecture of Mary Stetson Clarke)
Winter Canal Ski Tour
The Lowell Rail Road and Middlesex Canal (Part II) - Boston Weekly Messenger, 1830
Annual Meeting - April 24, 1976
Corrected List of Officers and Directors 1975-1976
Woburn Barge Construction
Winchester History (book note)
Illustration - Reproduction of Louis Linscott Water Color of the Baldwin Mansion

September 1975
14th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk in Billerica
Election Results - Officers and Directors 1975-1976
Mail Woes
A Fish Story
The Lowell Rail Road and Middlesex Canal (Part I) - Boston Weekly Messenger, 1830
Proprietors' Certificates
Reprint of original document “Middlesex Canal Navigation”

April 1975
Annual Meeting - April 26, 1975
Woburn Bicentennial Dedication
Bicentennial Canal Coins
Program for April 26
Canal Boat Coming!
Sanborn C. Brown (speaker at Annual Meeting)
Chelmsford Seeks Grant to Purchase Canal
Book Note

January 1975
Winter Meeting - February 9, 1975
Recent Acquisitions
Brief Notes
Dedication of Wilmington Restoration, October 19, 1974 (with photos)
In Memoriam: Harry J. Lasher - Dorothy I. Lasher
President's Page - by Wilbar M. Hoxie
Address Accepting the Wilmington Canal Restoration for the Public - by Theodore Anton Sande

September 1974
13th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk in Billerica - September 28, 1974
October 19, 1974 Canal Restoration Dedication
Richardson's Mill or Richardson's Mills – Historical Archeology Along the Middlesex Canal
Review: “The Old Middlesex Canal” by Mary Stetson Clarke - by Arnold H. Barben

April 1974
Annual Meeting (and Canal Walk) - April 27, 1974
Amendment of By-Laws
Nominations
President's Page - by Douglas P. Adams
A Report by William Sullivan, 1830
Application for Membership - American Canal Society

January 1974
Winter Meeting - January 20, 1974
President's Message - by Douglas P. Adams
New Format (for Towpath Topics)
Publications
Book Review: The Godfrey Letters - by Wilbar M. Hoxie

September 1973
12th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk in Billerica - September 22, 1973
Some Words from the President - by Douglas P. Adams
Recent Gifts
A Paper on the Middlesex Canal - by Charles Francis Adams, 1829
Lowell Canal Locks to be Restored? (Pawtucket Canal)

April 1973
Annual Meeting - April 28, 1973
The Weston Correspondence (1794 - 1796)
A Few Words from the President - by Douglas P. Adams
The Oldest Canal? (letter to the editor by James Wilson)

December 1972
Winter Meeting - January 28, 1972
New Officers and Directors 1972-1973
A Message from the President (Charlestown Millpond Dam and Lock) - by Douglas P. Adams
Brief Notes
Middlesex Canal – Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Bellows Falls Canal - by Malcolm N. Tottingham

September 1972
10th Anniversary Issue
Middlesex Canal Day - September 10, 1972
Annual Meeting - September 10, 1972
11th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - September 30, 1972
Text and Reproduction of Letter from Loammi Baldwin Describing the Boats Just Delivered to the Corporation
President's Report - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr.
Photo of Restored Wilmington Section of Middlesex Canal
Dahl Cartoon re: State Restoring Part of the Middlesex Canal
In Memoriam - Frederick A. Ewell
Canal Cruises
Dues
Globe Magazine Reprints
British Publications
American Canal Society

October 1971
Tenth Annual Canal Hike - September 25, 1971
Bay State League meeting - October 16, 1971
Miss Fannie Searle to Mrs. Margaret Curzon, 1817
Extract from the Journal of Miss Eliza Susan Quincy, 1817
A Comparison of the Pawtucket and Middlesex canals and the Boston and Lowell Railroad - by Harry C. Dinmore

April 1971
Annual Meeting - April 24, 1971
Canal Exhibit at Thoreau Lyceum
The Old Middlesex Canal (Part II) - by Mal Wood, June 1931

January 1971
Winter Meeting - February 21, 1971
C&O Canal: National Park?
Annual Dues payable
President's Report – 1970 - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr.
Illustrated Plan of Regional Recreational Core (Middlesex Canal corridor, Billerica, Chelmsford, Lowell)
The Old Middlesex Canal (Part I) - by Mal Wood

September 1970
Ninth Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - September 26, 1970
Other Coming Events
Medford Branch Canal - Reproduced from the Medford Historical Register, 1920
Work in Progress
The Chelmsford Tollhouse - by Henry Minott
News Notes

April 1970
Photo of Old Middlesex Tavern in North Billerica
Annual Meeting - May 2, 1970
Remarks on the Importance of Inland Navigation from Boston by the Middlesex Canal and Merrimack River in the Present and Probable Future State of Foreign Commerce (Part II) - by John L. Sullivan, Boston 1813
Officers and Directors 1970-1971 and List of Proprietors
Nudd's Canal: Hampton, New Hampshire - by Lt. Col. Wilbar M. Hoxie
Bay State Historical League
Excavation at Middlesex Village???
Book Note - “Collected Works of Count Rumford”

January 1970
Winter Meeting - January 18, 1970
Bay State Historical League Winter Meeting in Charlestown
Remarks on the Importance of Inland Navigation from Boston by the Middlesex Canal and Merrimack River in the Present and Probable Future State of Foreign Commerce (Part I) - by John L. Sullivan, Boston 1813

September 1969
8th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - September 27, 1969
English Canal Trip
An Exacting Study of the Complexities, Obstacles, Successes and Failures Encountered in the Building and Operation of the Middlesex Canal (Part II) - by Alec Ingraham

April 1969
Annual Meeting - April 26, 1969
Brief Notes: Reproduction of Christopher Roberts' “The Middlesex Canal”
An Exacting Study of the Complexities, Obstacles, Successes and Failures Encountered in the Building and Operation of the Middlesex Canal (Part I) - by Alec Ingraham
Brief Notes: English Trip; Recent Acquisitions; History Writing Project

January 1969
Winter Meeting - February 2, 1969
Coming Events: Annual Meeting; Canal Society of New York; Tour of the English Canals
Canal Information Service
To the Members of the General Court (of Massachusetts) – 1922 Petition of the Proprietors of the Union Canal and the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal
Memoir of Honorable James F. Baldwin
Editor's Note (on the Baldwin memoir)
Barge Model Kits

September 1968
7th Annual Old Middlesex Canal Walk - September 28, 1968
Future Events
Report on Pennsylvania Canal Trip
Loammi Baldwin the Younger - extract from the Class Book of Harvard Class of 1800
Canal Map Reprints Available (Hoxie Map)
Book Review: “The Delaware Canal: A Picture Story” by Robert J. McClellan - review by Harley P. Holden

April 1968
Annual Meeting - April 27, 1969
Book Note: “Yankee Science in the Making” (in Russian) by Prof. Dirk Struik
Joint Canal Meeting - May 24-26, 1968
A Comparison of the Blackstone and Middlesex Canals - by B. H. Dickson
Reprints of Canal Map (Hoxie Map)

November 1967
Postponed Annual Meeting - November 19, 1967
A Christmas Reminder
A Report on the August Meet (and dedication of the plaque at the Shawsheen Aqueduct)
Annual Dues
Early History of the Locks and Canals Corporation - by Joseph V. Kopcinski
Book Review: “The Limner's Daughter” by Mary Stetson Clarke

August 1967
Special Commemorative Issue (for first interstate canal meeting, August 1967)
The Middlesex Canal - by Fred Lawson, Jr.
The Boston and Lowell Railroad - by John A. Goodwin

March 1967
Winter Meeting - March 12, 1967
Current Dues
Historical Sketch of the Old Middlesex Canal (Part II) - by Herbert Pierce Yeaton, 1902
Note Paper For Sale
Big Week-End Meeting - August 4-5-6

September 1966
Marshall Tidd Sketch of First Inn at Horn Pond - reproduced from New England Magazine, January 1898
Historical Sketch of the Old Middlesex Canal (Part I) - by Herbert Pierce Yeaton, 1902
A New Canal Bridge (East Billerica)
Exhibit at Tufts
Fall Activities: Annual Meeting; Annual Historical Walk in Billerica (followed by a buffet supper)

May 1966
Summer Schedule (including two canal walks in June, one in Wilmington and another in North Billerica)
A Modern Ramble along the Middlesex Canal - December 1923, author unknown
Book Review: “Bright Promise” by Jan Nickerson - review by Catherine L. Lawson

January 1966
Photo of the Brooks Bridge
Winter Meeting - January 23, 1966
Annual Dues
Editorial Staff (co-editors Roland E. Shaine and Arthur L. Eno)
The Middlesex Canal - by Harley P. Holden

September 1965
Annual Meeting - October 2, 1965
Canal Painting by E. T. Baker
AMC Walk - September 25, 1965
Amendment of By-Laws
Recent Accessions
Letter from J. L. Sullivan to New York Canal Commissioners Advising Concerning the Cost of Proposed Erie Canal, 1817

March 1965 (Towpath Topics)
Photo of the Middlesex Canal at High Street (photographed by Fred Lawson, Jr.)
Winter Meeting - March 16, 1965
Canal Museum Grows
New Sewer Construction Unearths Timbers of Old Middlesex Canal - by Frank W. Lovering
1965 Dues

September 1964 (Towpath Topics)
Annual Meeting - October 3, 1964
Annual Report - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr., President
Scale Model of Maple Meadow Brook Aqueduct
Brief Notes
An Act for Incorporating James Sullivan, Esq. and Others, by the Name and Stile of “The Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal” (1793)
Fall Calendar (including Canal Hike jointly sponsored by AMC; Troop 55, BSA; and the Middlesex Canal Association)

April 1964 (Canal News)
Canal Hike - May 2, 1964
Recent Gifts
News Notes
In this Issue
Report of the New York Canal Commissioners on the Middlesex Canal (1816)

January 1964 (Canal News)
Photo of the Middlesex Canal in Winter (photographed by Fred Lawson)
A Description of the Middlesex Canal, by Charles Fredric Morey (late 1930's)
Museum Collection
Winter Meeting and Skating Party
A Final Appeal
Canal Maps: A Correction

October 1963 (Canal News, Arthur Louis Eno, Editor)
Reproduction of Barton Painting of Floating Towpath across Concord River at North Billerica
Reminiscences of Middlesex Village - by Susan Richardson Pevey
Annual Dues
Annual Meeting - October 5, 1963
Museum Opening
A Contest!!
Canal Maps
President's Report - by Arthur L. Eno, Jr.